Schwarze Sonne
by The Princess of Darkness
Summary: On a new mission, Dante must help a girl return her family to normality. Something from his past will confront him at a core. Your usual cliche DMC fic with a twist-The pairing and storyline!
1. Chapter 1

Cherrio for me, the multi-taster! I got this idea from the weirdest things: Priest/Exorcist/Angel...Uhh, I don't watch Angel, but I thought it would be a great Idea. Therefore, I must write it now. Plus, 90 of the DMC fanfiction sucks.... -- Hey, I am no fancy writer myself (check for my shit here: and see if I really suck at writing) but even I have my limits!! Oh, the title comes from E Nomine's new CD. It means "Black Sun".

Ahem, my 3rd fanfiction...

Schwarze Sonne

They've always been prone to have problems. For they were the Dermodys. You're average American family in a normal suburb . They lived in a small desolate community, in classic suburbia. Their oldest child, was a small girl, only twelve years old. Their youngest was a boy, not even ten yet. He was very withdrawn and was very shy. He didn't form friends very well and wanted to get to know someone just like him. He was naturally curious; rummaging threw the old attic in search of some form of companionship. Until one day, the freckled-face boy found something...

An old oujia board passed down in his family for generations. His grandmother told stories to him about contacting her husband in the other world much like old Celtic lore. That's when he got the idea to make a new friend as well as pass on the tradition of contacting the other side. But little did the boy know that the solution to his problems would also be the catalyst to a larger problem.

The family was so withdrawn from one another due to work and school. So it happened so quickly when a large negative force took the house. Erin, the only daughter of the Dermodys, sought out to cleanse the house of the negative energy. Erin was a small, short, skinny girl with pale freckled skin and her deep brown eyes as well as her red hair that looked like it was washed out in a rainstorm for many years.

Erin was fearful and panicked about the situation that she might as well rushed into it. By the second week and failed neurologist appointments to diagnose the odd behavior of the boy, with all hope gone, Erin's parents vanished. Dazed and confused, Erin took the last remaining hundred dollars she saved from her Grandmother, and looked for help either one way or another.

So she left with the unknown being inside her house as well as her brother.

Once more, Erin sought help again. She hardly knew where to begin. Erin had been traveling for a decent two weeks, driven from her home in search of help. The best way she felt for driving out the spirits or whatever they were now. Her best option was to get away far as possible and go to a Catholic organization found in the mid-coast in search of an Exorcist. But the Catholic Church itself hardly did exorcisms anymore and leaned more the psychological state rather than the religious belief. Hardly any priest knew anything about exorcisms or knew as much as atheists from the street. With these odds stacked against her, Erin became more desperate with each day passing. She didn't know what else to do.

She'd try this shelter for the hell of it because there had to be someone at least that could help. Erin's feet beated with pain from the walking around in circles. Erin refused to go to homeless shelters because the ever fear of doubt in her story. Hardly any priests receded in these buildings too. Erin looked up again at the old building once more. Surrounded by a neighborhood. After all, seminaries are very hard to come by nowadays. Erin opened the door slightly. She peeked her head and looked around. With hardly anyone walking around, Erin nervously placed one foot in and finally walked in. However she was going to do this, she'd better do it quickly. Erin walked inside the main room and saw a least two Jesuits talking lightly. Erin went unnoticed as they didn't move but their conversation did pick up. She lowered her head slightly and looked downward in an attempt to look noticed by the doorway, clasping her hands together above her knees. One of the Jesuits, a man around her fathers' age shot a quick glance. He whispered to the much older Jesuit

"Take care, Carl," The younger priest shook hands with the elder priest. The old priest proceeded down the hallway just left of the main doors. With him gone, the Jesuit turned to Erin.

"Can I help you with anything?" He asked warmly. Erin hesitated but walked over cautiously as if she were in deep trouble with some authoritve figure.

"Can you tell me how I can get an excrocism?"

The priest's warm smile faded as quickly as Erin's question came up. His face turned to a serious, harsh tone.

"Hardly anyone in the Catholic church does it anymore," He said simply. "It is more of an issue of the mind rather than the devil, do you understand?"

Erin quivered. It was the same answer she heard everywhere else. "Yes, but...I am very serious, Father," Erin voice began to shake as she fought back tears. "I tried everyone! My little brother isn't the same, I think he's possessed...a-and the house has a bunch of voices and the shadows move around! Please don't send me away!"

The Jesuit breathed in for a moment and then said to Erin: "The Chruch also needs approval from the Bishop himself and a very detailed case. Its much like trying to show someone murdered another. You need evidence. I don't think you have any."

"No, I don't," Erin grasped her knuckles and looked at him in his brown eyes. "But you try getting evidence from that, Father!"

Slightly annoyed Erin shuffled waiting for a reply.

"No one performs exorcisms anymore, my dear," He tried to emphasize some sort of compassion in his tone. "It hasn't been done here for fifty years."

"You're seminary won't even give me chance?" Erin's tone grew shrill. "Fine, then! I'll find someone else who knows how to get them out of my house! Even my parents won't come back!"

With that note, Erin wheeled on the heel of her sneekers and walked defiantly out of the seminary before the Jesuit said anything else to her.

"What kind of Church that has fought against demons says they won't do it anymore?" Erin said outloud.

"Heheh.." Murmered the homeless man on the curb below the steps as he got to his feet. "Say, dear?" He walked slowly up to the steps to Erin. Erin turned swiftly; her washed out red hair swung back.

"...Y-yes, sir?" Erin looked at him mournfully. "I have no money. If I am blocking the-"

"Oh, no!" He waved his hands carelessly. "You said you had a demon problem, right?"

Erin nodded flavorously. She looked at him as if his words were madness. Had she really said that out loud? Did everyone in the damn building hear her problem?

"Why, I know just the man! You don't need any damn church approval or all that hoodily shit!" His smile broke out Erin _did _say she would find another way of disposing of the demons. But what non-religious organization did that was clearly fictitious to her.

"Come with me, darlin'! I know where ya can go for your problem! Honest!" He limped up the stairs, straightening his back and held out his hand. "Nothin' to be afraid of! Ya just need to think outside the box!"

"Uh...ok."

"Ah, don't worry, darlin'! Ladies love 'em!" He gently held her hand as they walked down the street. "My name is Charlie, yours?"

"Uh...Erin..."She muttered shyly.

"Just trust me," He repeated. "All ya need is a bounty hunter! It's the same matter when the fuzz can' handle those damn Osama Bin Landens out there!"

"The fuzz?" Erin asked mindlessly as she helped him down the stairs onto the sidewalk.

"The popos! The pigs! The police!" He added shrilly. "They don't do anything anymore. Sometimes you need to have someone outside the damn force to help you!"

"So where are you going to take me?" Erin inquired. Charlie stopped and scratched his grey hair head under a wool beanie.

"You go to'Devil May Cry' or whatever he calls it now!" Charlie returned to his limp walk down south of the seminary as Erin followed closely behind to help him.

"Are you serious?" Erin blinked. "Someone just runs a business fighting demons or something? And people pay that business?"

"YEAH!" Charlie shouted loudly as they approached an intersection.

Erin seriously doubted if he was right or not. But she had no choice. Her journey took her here for some reason and maybe it was this reason alone.

Even though Charlie was slightly touched, even he knew about the even stranger local business, "Devil May Cry". A very distinguishable young man, Dante, ran it. The local people thought he was nuts, the customers thought he was great. The ladies loved him. Despite that, Dante was a bizarre, active member of that community. He even held fundraisers for Christmas, passed out Christmas presents, held local (and very loud) Halloween parties. Despite that, Dante kept his lineage a secret. Besides, would you fling out to random people you were half-demon?

As they walked into a separate business district, Erin's doubts grew. 'No way,' She thought. 'There would not be anyone out there to take something so seriously to open up a business.' Lo and behold, neon pink with bright cursive letters were gleaming out "Devil May Cry". Erin's eyes grew wide with shock. "Oh, my, it's true?" She whispered as she peered up at the building. Built from an older complex, it was grungy on the outside, the rails faded from years of use, and an old bike sat in the back hidden in the alleyway.

"S-so, someone _actually _does this for a living?" Erin thought.

Charlie stopped briefly for a moment and turned a very Mad-Eye Moody look to Erin. Her heart was racing. This was insanity. How could you drive demons out without the Roman Rituals? Did the business owner used it? And if not, what else were the methods of destroying demons? Blood rushed to Erin's head as she stopped behind Charlie. Erin's hand gripped her old battered backpack in antipation.

"Ok, we here now!" Charlie took his arms up in the air and waved his hands. Bob, the local dry cleaner waved to Charlie.

"Heya, Charlie!" Waved Bob from the block away. Erin shot a look across the street and came into the relization that this place—was an average place.

Erin nervously sweatdropped. What and odd neighborhood. Charlie was already up the stairs. He pulled out a mini bike toy, a joke for old time sakes, and opened the door. "Well, whadda waitin' for darlin'? Come on in!" He waved anxiously. Erin nervously walked up the stairs, feeling her sweaty hands shake.

As Charlie swung the door open, Erin had a chance to look in. It was no average business. No curators, no respetionists, no cubicles like her father's office he worked in. The room was a complete mess. It gave an impression of either a very busy man or a very careless slob. At the desk, a young man with white hair, slummed forward was on the phone and apparently, was too engrossed in a phone conversation to notice Charlie and the new compatriot he dragged in.

He slumped over his desk, narrowed his ice blue eyes. "What do you mean it won't be here until Friday?" He blurted out simontaniously to Charlie's excited waved. Erin quietly looked back at Dante on the phone. "I'd like to have it _sometime _this evening."

Dante didn't turn to Charlie. He pulled the phone away and the voice of an angry voice was echoing threw the phone speaker. With a mixture of frustration of amusement, Dante pulled back the receiver to his ear.

"What an ass," Dante muttered quietly away from the phone. "Oh, look! Charlie's here with someone!" He rushed the ending of the conversation quickly. "Gotta go now. Bye!" He slammed the phone on the desk and turned to Charlie.

"What's that about?" Charlie asked anxiously.

"I can't have a new drumset," He replied simply. Erin turned to an old, worn out drumset in a dark corner with a monstrous head with its mouth open with a picture of a music group.

"Heya!" Charlie grew exicted next to Erin and rummaged through his old jack eagerly. "Got somthin' for ya!"

Charlie tossed the mini bike at Dante. He quickly caught it with a gloved hand. Dante narrowed his eyes again. "Very funny, Charlie." He placed the small bike onto the side of the desk.

Dante turned his eyes to Erin. Erin fiercely blushed.

"Oh, who's that?"

Charlie turned swiftly to a shaking Erin. "Oh, this kid? Its Erin! She's got a problem with them demons!"

Dante lifted an eyebrow and ran his gloved hand threw his white hair. "Oh, really?"

He moved around the desk to greet Charlie.

"Now you aren't grabbing random people again, are you?" He asked him. Charlie shook his head furiously.

"Nope! She went to them priests and she had to leave!" Charlie grabbed Erin's shoulders and turned her to Dante. "The church is too shitty to help people with real demon problems. Figure ya be interested, Dante!"

Erin looked to the floor quickly. Feeling awkard by the moment, Erin raced through her head to try to explain this to him.

Dante broke out in a small smile and shoke his head.

"Oh, the don't perform exorcisms anymore? What a shame." He looked at Erin, who still hasn't bugged from her little slump. Erin stood cautiously still again and muttered something shyly. Charlie looked at both of them waiting for some reply. Dante made a gesture to back away from Erin. He knelt down to her eye level and looked at her with a small cocky smile.

"Hey, kid," Dante said boldly "Don't worry. Whatever problem you have, I can handle it. For a fee your folks can muster." Erin looked at him with watery brown eyes.

"Maybe," She said softly. "Maybe if they were still around. I don't know where they went. They disappeared..."

Dante usually enjoyed a hefty fee, but this time he wouldn't have one. In the past he had taken jobs before without such a large sum. Erin dugged in her coat and pulled out a crinkled up ten dollar bill. With teary eyes, she looked at him with a small smile. "I know it's not much," She said to him "But it is all I have. It was going to be my dinner money. And I know you have to earn a fee for your hard work. I'm really sorry."

He shrugged.

"Nah, keep it." He said flatly. Erin's face changed to a sudden shock and her tears grew heavier.

"Why?" She asked desperately.

Dante smiled gently, the first true smile Erin had seen. "Hey, I will do anything to help you. You keep that money. Don't worry about a fee for now." His hand patted her shoulder gently. Erin stood bewildered. Charlie however was at the door.

"Hey, where are you going old man?" He asked Charlie.

"Ah! Supper time at the shelter! I be moseying over there! Take care of the darlin'!" With that Charlie grinned maniacally and grasped the handle.

"Dont slam the-!"

SLAM!

"Door..." Dante frowned at the now closed door. "Crazy old Charlie." Dante' gaze met Erin's again.

"Well, I bet your hungry," He said making his way back to his beaten up desk and opened up a small fridge on the counter, next two empty bottles of beer.

"Pizza?" He he held out a small box of Red Baron's pizza. Erin blinked and quietly came over to the desk. "Ok..." She muttered, whipping away excess tears.

Squee! That was fun! Reviews, flames, rants, the usual! Or tips for that matter!!


	2. Chapter 2

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Foreword: I am back again. I am bored. BloodRayne is feeding off of glorious zombies (haha). I got a harpoon. Need I say more? The Hellsing fanfiction section is crapping out ;-;. So, here I am, December 29, and its 10pm....0o WHY IS IT SO EARLY?! OH, YEAH! No Trish in here because I hate her for impaling Dante, THROWING a bike at Dante and dragging him out to the island of "impending doom" and so forth...I hate her and I despise those DantexTrish fanfics!!! cough Oedipus Complex! cough That's for you, flyinpiggy18, because, yes the recarinated mother-thing is interely creepy.

-Fanfic brought to you by Insomnia and ADD-

Loona Almasy: Thank you, thank you, thank you for the first review because usually I get two or three reviews in two days!! Ah, and someone knows who E Nomine is! VERY COOL! -- I want that CD. I myself own only three CDs of them.

Thirty minutes later, Erin was looking up at the heads plastered on the wall. Meanwhile, Dante was rummaging in the back of the building looking for more bullets for his shotgun. Dante squinted at the thought of how many demons were in control of Erin's home. He hadn't got most of the detail out of her just yet. Neither had he delt with another demon into a human body. If he remembered correctly, demons would vow to keep inside the body until they died.

He contemplated how to approach such manner as he gathered his weapons together. Either way, he wasn't going to waist time hear much longer and head out to where Erin came from. "It has to be at least a weak demon if it's using a body for personification. It can't form a real body in this realm. I has to be weak." He kept thinking. But then again, he heard of priests exorcising demons for months and nearly dying.

"No, maybe there doing it wrong." He thought. But he couldn't help but think of something when he passed by the poster hanging on the wall. As he placed on his dark brown leather jacket, Dante brushed his hair out his eyes and looked at the poster.

"THE EXROCIST".

He scoffed for a moment.

"What a lovely day for an exorcism." He repeated Linda Blair's quote.

Walking back into the main room, he found Erin gawking at the heads.

"Are they real?" She asked.

"Yeah," Dante began to explain how, but decieded the details may be traumatising.

"Wow," Erin murmured. Erin turned away and walked across the room looking around.

"Uhh...you can look around at the video store if you want," He said watching her walk around.

Erin paused for a moment. She thought about it for a moment and turned to him. "Oh, where is it at?"

"Just two blocks from here," He said. "Your welcome to leave your backpack here. Looks heavy."

"Okay," Erin placed her backpack under the heads to remind herself where she put them.

"But before you go," He added quickly. "Can you tell me how those demons got into your house?"

Erin stood at the farthest end with a blank look.

"I dunno really," She stated monotone. Her mind was numb from the experience and began to sank in her after awhile. "My brother and me were messing around with a Oujia board one day. But after words he acted funny. He started yelling at my parents and saying really dirty things to my mother. But after a while, they took him to a bunch of doctors to figure out what was wrong."

"They didn't find anything though," Dante added he already knew the conclusion.

"No," Erin walked further to him and stopped at two feet. Her eyes were unflinching but a twinge of horror lingered on her face. "There were strange noises, then voices in the dark, and my brother started talking a weird language. I think it was German...but then it was Gaelic (I know, my grandmother speaks Gaelic). Then I woke up one day with my parents gone. My brother through me across the room and he is only nine years old. So I took a hundred dollar bill Gramma gave me and tried to come here for help. So yeah..."

"Oh, I get it now," Dante shifted his weight to his left side. "Your brother opened a portal from another dimension. So, now they occupy your house and your brother. He may even be the source of it too."

"Can you get rid of them?" Erin piped up hopefully.

"Of course I can," Dante said arrogantly. "I'll drive the bastards back into that hole where they came from."

Erin felt a wave of graditiude. Her face broke out in a first true smile that Dante had seen.

"Ok, so don't worry about it, ok?" He reassured her again. "Go out and chill for change." He walked passed her and patted her left shoulder,

:"Okay," Erin repeated. She walked to the door, swung it open and disapeared. Hell, it would keep her less nervous he thought to himself.

Keeping to himself, Dante prepared a large barrage of guns and his best sword, Sparda ready at hand.

And hour or so later, Dante was still waiting for Erin to return. He managed to keep everyone in a five block radius from even approaching the building by blasting Slayer through the walls.

Erin came through the door with the music off. Dante walked out from the backroom to see Erin at the door.

"Oh, was there intresting there?"

"Not really," Erin returned to her backpack. Returning to a couch next to a very old television set that hardly work, Dante pulled his beer bottle resting next to a small table. Pulling the bottle to his lips he watched Erin look around some more.

"Oh, who is this pretty lady?" Erin was looking at an old photo on the desk,

"That is my mother," Dante sipped the beer. "I guess it's suitable I put her there. She probably would be disappointed how clean this place is..." He trailed off thinking of his mother.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Erin walked over near by and sat down.

"For what?" He smirked

"I didn't mean to make you miss your mom..." Erin placed her hands on her thighs,

"Not to worry," He drank his beer again. "My mother is always here anyway, just by her picture. Jez, this place is a mess, I probably should clean up for you at least." He got up, picking up random bottles and boxes from aside the chair.

"You play drums?" She glanced at the drums. Dante through the trash into a small cylinder trashcan and came back over to his drum set.

"Eh, when I get the chance," Dante waved his hand walking away. Erin waited as he eagerly strolled over to a set of drums. Dante took two of beaten drumsticks tapped them lightly. "Their old anyway, I'll probably replace them."

"Uh," She began. Dante shifted his attention back to Erin. "W-when are we leaving?" Dante began to drum vigorously before answering her question. Perhaps Erin spoke too softly to get his attention. But Dante ended his small drumming session with tapping the cymbals. Erin had to admit he seemed pretty good with the drums.

"Oh, yeah," He paused. "Sooner the better. Where'd you say you live, kid?"

Erin blinked and looked to the floor. "Uh...I live in Denver."

"Denver?" Dante inquired amazingly. "How did you get here?"

"I took a Greyhound bus," Erin stated simply. "It was around fifty dollars to here from Denver. I came here for any seminary for an exorcism...but, yeah."

Dante walked away from the drums and came back over to the small chair.

"Ah, I forgot about sleeping arrangements," He muttered.

Erin nearly forgot about it too. She scanned the messy floor, looked at the many demonic heads on the walls and thought for a moment where and how did this guy sleep. Dante pulled away from the beer bottle. "My apartment is actually clean unlike here," he stated "I'll live if I sleep on the couch."

Erin let out a small giggle. Apparently she was filling a lot more comfortable outside her home and in this dire time.

But whatever small comforts she had received, it made Dante feel less guilty about her situation.

"Eh, its getting late...for you, anyway," He glanced at the clock in the demon's mouth on the wall. Erin looked too and noticed it was only 11 PM. Erin frowned. Dante was heading towards the door by the time Erin looked up and she followed as well too.

He took his wallet from the desk and placed it in his jean pocket. Before leaving, Dante returned to the back emerging with a large army green duffel bag on his right shoulder. Erin immeditally swung her backpack on her shoulder and followed Dante to the door. The lights were shut off and then-

"You should see this place at night," He pointed out.

"Oh, wow! Their eyes glow? How?"

"I have no idea." He said shutting the door. Dante strapped the duffel bag against him as he went down the steeps, followed by a very tired Erin.

In the backskirts beyond Dante's business building, stood a motorcycle and Erin suddenly paused.

"What? Never ridden one before?" He looked at Erin cowering away from the bike.

"Uh, no," She said quickly.

Dante was really avid.or not about helmets. He cared too deeply for his hair and if he did get into a crash, he'd assume he bail before he crash...An unlikely story when he was five with his brother, Vergil.

"Don't you have helmets?" Erin nervously looked up at Dante with fearful eyes as he mounted on his bike.

"I hate helmets," He explained. Dante didn't go further into detail to risk him being half demon. Before Erin had the chance to reply Dante immediately grabbed her and she found herself on the bike. "Alright," Dante said revving the motorcycle. "Hang on!" Erin grabbed a wad full of his leather jacket as he sped off into the night. Erin kept her eyes shut as she thought her stomach would be sick...

By the time Erin opened her eyes the bike was fully stopped. She fluttered and quickly whipped her sweaty hands on her shirt. Dante and Erin quickly got off the bike. "See, it wasn't that far," Dante pointed out as he turned to Erin. "You had nothing to worry about."

The climbed stairs (that weren't so big as she thought) up into a dark complex with a deathly silence. Dante quietly opened a door with keys not to far from the stair from the exit. Erin was still climbing up the stairs, tired. He held the door open for Erin as she slowly trudged in.

The apartment was shockingly clean. Even the floors had no loose paper or trash. It was a loft and quite spacious. But it still had its share of female posters. Erin stumbled and Dante crashed into her.

"Oh, sorry," Erin mumbled. Dante passed by her and patted her shoulder lightly. "Your probably tired," He said taking off his shoes on the couch. Dante wasted no time and immediately lay on the couch on his back. He made himself comfortable. Erin stood for a few seconds before timidly making her way towards the bed.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Dante waved his hand in a Captain Jack Sparrow fashion. "Its ok."

With that Erin sprawled herself on the soft little bed and fell asleep instantly...

Dante however secretly however took longer to sleep.

"Well, this has to be interesting."

Ok, that's all I can add for now.... ...Ummm, the usual reviews, reads, tips, what have you!


	3. Chapter 3

I've been reading this over and wondering what the hell I WAS thinking. My biggest concern is OOC and I hope that this IC is not Mary-Sue-ish. Kinda doubt it though. Nothing special about her. She's just there. I'm encouraging you, my dear readers to please give me any tips or CC because it feels like this is very vague and dull and I hope to add more detail into it as much as possible, ok? I might even get annoyed enough to re-write it. SO, this is why I am skipping a scene and trying to get back on track and get into deeper detail her, because I do not like this story so far. So, no more cutesy humor and dry drivel. Lets jump in.

K, my A/N notes crapped out...

One of the greatest things about Denver is the traffic. Yes, folks. Denver plus the traffic renovation is a wonderful combo!

Despite the bipolar weather, 16th street mall was busy, bustling town. An average crowd gathered at the intersection at the stoplight. An old woman with her older daughter in her forties engrossed in a conversation, a girl from a local community college reading "Living with Art" and a younger woman with flaming red hair and dark skin stood by the light waiting for the light to turn green. Lucia wasn't too familiar with the city, but she made it by. She was enjoying a quiet life beyond her mother and Arius. Hell, she even had time to be a regular girl. The light turned green and the three shuffled across the street one by one. Bump.

"Oh, sorry, Ma'am," Lucia brushed gently against the old woman's left side as she walked.

"Don't worry," The elder woman smiled back to her. Lucia couldn't help but smiled too.

The girl walking with the "Living with Art" textbook nearly bumped into the opposite light. She stopped herself looking really annoyed, sniffing through her big German nose.

"Dammit," She pulled her dyed black hair from her shoulders back in frustration and walked away.

Lucia remained grateful to herself for wearing her new long blue skirt from the cold weather. Hey, it was cool. And it was great to wear colors for a change and not her hunter garb. After a quick lunch at one of the streets, Lucia was walking into a neighborhood in an unusual slump. She was long passed 16th Street Mall and realized something was amiss. Lucia tugged on her brown suede jacket and continued walking. Fall wasn't coming quickly in Denver and most of the leaves were still attached, green on the tree. The neighborhood was certainly old from the early 20th century. It was quiet and cold. Only few neighbors emerged walking their dogs or fetching the news. at the end of the small, narrow street, a large, dark green Victorian house stood at the corner. Lucia admired the large and beautiful design of the house. As she got closer, an unusual negative feeling emitted from the dark house.

"Wait a minute," She whispered, picking up the beat of her walking. As she came closer and closer, the negative energy became stronger and vivid, standing out from the rest of the houses. Lucia placed her hands on the ebony gate outside the house and squinted into the bay window underneath the willow tree.

Lucia bit her lower lip and finally came to realization of her fears. The house was so quiet and she was wondering whether or not to come into the house. She looked around the neighborhood. It was very quiet and hardly anyone was walking around. Lucia resisted the urge to investigate the house. Her body rested against the fence as she continued to look in.

There!

Her body froze and shivers swept over as she saw a pale white face with almost sulked eyes appear. The face looked old and battered but the harder she looked she realized it was a small boy. How odd. As quick as she noticed the face, it sank back into the darkness as if it were someone pulling a statue away from the light. Demons. And many of them. Lucia pulled away from the gate and scorned at the house. Whatever force came in there, it was very strong. Her vow to expel any evil from the normal human world repaired the same thing that led her to defeat Arius.

"I may be half-human, but I will not let this be ignored," She affirmed her thoughts. "I will come back later."

It may be Seven o' clock on a Sunday night, but Denver is dead. The Broncos are playing. Admist in a small crowd in the Old Downtown station (rumored to be haunted). Lucia was quietly heading through the crowd on her own and trying to keep warm. She had to go back and prepare herself. But how was she going to be able to do this by herself anyway? It felt like a large, powerful presence.

"Lucia?"

Lucia stopped, puzzled. No one knew her in Denver. What were the odds of running into someone? She returned to her pace and then-

"HEY! LUCIA!" Lucia turned around and noticed something familiar. White hair.

Dante stood in a crowd of people next to a pale red head girl. Both looked slightly tired. Dante had his large army duffel bag strapped against his chest. And, he of course, looked just as arrogant as she left him. His sly smile grew again and he approached her.

"Funny seeing you here," He paused and looked around for a better place to stand without being in front of oncoming traffic. Dante proceeded onto the curb.

"Really," Lucia began in her calm, sardonic voice all over again. "What _are_ you doing here? Following me?"

"No," He said returning to his gruff state, Erin beside him opening her bag and adding on another layer of coat. "I'm here on a job."

"Oh, really," Lucia glanced at Erin. "For her?"

Erin flinched at the mention of her. She looked up, opened her mouth to say something but couldn't force it out of her mouth. She turned to Dante seemingly hinting a plea.

"Yeah for her," Dante glanced back at her. Erin seemed to be placed in an uncomfortable position. "Its her family, anyway."

Lucia turned away before Dante could add anything else.

"Well, its good to see your ok," He added quickly in the awkward moment.

"Thank you," She replied softly.

A minute went by and then Erin added. "Ummm...if your wondering, my family's house is just past 16th street mall. It's a big Victorian house." Erin returned in her slumped head position. Then it hit Lucia.

That dark green Victorian house at the corner. Could that be what they were here for? No way. There were probally at another house, probably near a troubled neighborhood. "I'm sorry, but I have to leave before that accursed football game ends. The traffic will pour out of here like a heard of cattle." Lucia finally noticed Erin and added "Good luck, I hope you can sort things out again."

"Thank you!" Erin said eagerly "You got really pretty hair. I wish my hair was that red."

Lucia smiled faintly, completely ignoring Dante. She turned and left with the crowd pouring out of the light rail.

Of course, Dante remained petrified with his gruff state and returned to his normal casual state.

"That woman confuses me." He muttered as he zipped up his dark brown leather jacket.

"Why?" Erin asked aloud to him. Dante blinked and added sourly. "Its like she turns stone to me when I'm around. I don't know why either."

"It looked like both of you did," Erin added sitting down on a bench four feet away. Traffic was slowly dying down before the game ended. "You both act funny really."

Dante paused and thought about it for a moment and squinted. "Nah, it has to be her," he thought. Usually every woman he had to put up with froze with a sort of a giddy glee around him. And it was not like him to be so sour around another woman either for one thing. Not even at Trish a demon created to look like his mother. But in the mean time, he _did_ bail Lucia out at least two times from Arius. Didn't _he_ deserve some reconciliation as well?

"Ah, enough about that," He swung his army duffel bag across his back. "We have to find some place to stay at least."

Erin frowned. "Can I pitch in on the pay?" She looked up expecting a response.

Dante frowned. "I thought I told you to keep your money."

"I feel like a bum, though," Erin looked at her feet.

"No, Charlie is a bum," He smiled. "He's at my door when I get pizza. He is a genuine bum. But seriously, let's get out of here before that game ends. I hear the Falcons are doing shitty anyway."

"Our defense has improved this year," Erin added "I'm really happy about it."

Finally after a long pause after traveling on the lightrail, Erin and Dante settled into a small hotel in a small part of Denver. After a long journey, there was no rush to go out and prepare the long fight ahead. Erin immediately fell asleep in a second bed, but as usual, Dante took a longer time before he fell asleep and finally dosed off.

Meanwhile, deeper into the night, a temperature dropped down to forty degrees farhient and a small rainstorm passed. Lucia walked down the neighborhood shrouded in darkness. Armed with her usual two blades at her side and wearing flexible pants and a proper top to keep her warm. Lucia arrived at the gates of the house, now the house was shrouded in errie darkness. She walked down further, opened the gate. Walking up the small steps and placing her hand on the door. She peered into the house, still dark.

"Okay," She breathed in. To keep herself calm, Lucia began to recite the Italian lyrics to Lacuna Coil's "Comailes" in her head. It had a nice melody enough not to be distracting. Lucia looked into one of her pockets and held out a coin Dante gave her back in Vi de Marli. Lucia looked up at the door again and flinched.

The same white, tattered face was peering down at her through the window inside the little boy. THe face lit up in a malicious smile and proceeded to fade away again like it done before, as if it were a art piece displayed and being rolled away in the dark. Lucia scorned her face and grasped the handle of the door. She pushed it open and laid one foot into the house.

"Unfortunately, you do not scare me, Demon," Lucia calmly told the darkness. "I am half your kind." Lucia grasped on of her swords at her side and stepped into the house completely. The door then slammed shut and made a clicking noise as if it were locking itself. Lucia scoffed softly and pushed aside her hair. "How cute." She whispered. Placing her left hand on the banister, Lucia walked carefully up into the second floor of the house. Pausing in the hallway, she could see a small light in the farthest right room. Lucia proceeded with a cautious step. She entered the room.

The boy was hunched over in the corner and when he spoke, his voice was deep, masculine and nasal.

"Pray tell me, m'lady," The boy's body didn't move, but clearly the voice was not his own. "Do you know how to _drive_ your own kind out of a human body? Hmmm?"

Lucia simply replied. "You're all the same. Predictable, in fear of God himself. You seek mortal bodies because you cannot form a body in this world. How pathetic. Even I, a half-blood can form a temporally body!" She proclaimed.

"Heh heh," His laugh drawled in his throat in a cold manner. The room temperature dropped. "You underestimate the power of the old demons. We are not the same as the newer ones our dark lord has created. We are the ones that fell with Lucifer himself!"

The boy's body jerked violently to Lucia with the same sulken eyes, now shinning threateningly. "What make you, m'lady think you can drive us out?! A vortex has been open!" The boy's back arched up and his head pulled back. The room with the objects violently shaking, doors opening, shelves rattling, and the bed slightly levitating off the ground.

"You're all the same!" Lucia shouted at the boy's body.

"Silence!" The boy's body jerked up and the nearest nightstand flung at Lucia falling onto her. Lucia collapsed onto the floor holding her stomach tightly. She winced greatly. The nightstand caused her to fall so hard that the force, which it flew, was no normal force. Crawling further down toward the door entrance, Lucia gathered her strength again.

Leaning against the wall, she came up and turn to the boy's body. It was chuckling slightly.

"You cannot fight us." It said simply with a twinge of arrogance.

Lucia paused and then decided the only way she could fight was to use the charms her mother gave her. "Yeah, right." She muttered. Giving it one more go she charged once more at the boy's body with full force expecting a type of shield. Bingo. Then the minor demons came at it's will, returning Lucia's charge knocking her full force out of the room into the small hallway. Lucia sprang to her feet, slashing with all her strength at the demons coming out of the room. But overwhelmed, Lucia found herself smothered by their forces of unstoppable caliber.

It was only two o' clock at night. Erin was turning in her sleep mumbling. Meanwhile, Dante slept unflinchingly in the other bed. A quick rustle in the darkness and Dante found himself walking outside of the small hotel looking out at the Denver skyline. Tilting his head back he suddenly realized that the Denver skyline didn't show any stars. "Jez, the weather is nuts in this state," He muttered. It was snowing in one part and then when they arrived in Aurora, it was at least regular mid-seventies temperature. After a pointless thought, he decided to return at least back into the room where it was warmer. But he paused. He noticed something familiar at the corner of his eyes, limping.

Lucia!

She was holding her side limping on her left leg. She was bruised slightly and a couple of cuts here and there.

"Lucia?" He called out stepping way from the side of the wall.

"Oh! Funny meeting you again, Dante!" She winced at her side.

Dante reached out his hands putting them on her shoulders keeping her from falling.

"Hey, what the hell happened to you?" He looked down at her. She smiled. "Did you get in a fight with another woman or what?"

Lucia laughed. "Oh, no," she collapsed slightly onto him. "I thought I could take a legion of demons and a possessed child. I was wrong. I guess I am not that strong as you are."

Dante then pulled her closer to him so she wouldn't fall on the sidewalk. "Wait?" He remembered Erin's story now.

"Possessed kid? Was it a boy with red hair like that girl with me?"

"Yes." She rested herself against his chest. Her energy was gone and now she was feeling completely woozy. Oh, she would so not do this if she were more awake she thought. "I think that is her family."

"Did you find her parents?" He asked.

"I saw no adults," Lucia muttered. "Maybe they left him there and were afraid to come back."

Dante hoped otherwise. He hoped they were somehow alive or somewhere. It would be horrible if he couldn't find Erin's parents there. But he would make sure that they didn't just leave Erin with her brother behind. Possessed brother none the less.

"Look," Dante sighed. He didn't believe he had to do this himself. "You're very tired. Come in and rest? I could help you and you can help me later, ok? It'll be like old times, ok? Lucia?"

Lucia came into reality and pulled herself off of him. Her body swayed a little as she held her head. "I don't think so," She said. "I don't trust you."

Dante scoffed. "Like I can make a move with a 12-year-old with me. For Christ's sakes, woman."

"I don't trust you," She repeated.

"Well that's stupid," His frustration was starting to show because of his fatigue. "You don't even know me well enough to reach to that kind of conclusion!"

"Fine then," Lucia waved her hand. "Whatever. I don't even live in this damn town anyway."

Lucia's waist was grabbed and she was being lead back into the small hotel by Dante.

"Hey now," He said defensively. "I like Denver. Don't rag on the Mile High city."

Lucia smiled. As she was led into the door down the hall and finally stopped at the door. Lucia closed her eyes again. Dante then slid the card, opened the door quietly.

"Ok, you need to shut up because that girl is sleeping," He whispered. Erin mumbled in the dark something about "Sirius" and then fell back into a daze. Lucia scoffed again as sat onto the bed.

"Fine, just don't touch me," She added as she laid down on the pillow.

"I won't if you won't," He replied as he went back to his muscle shirt and boxers. Lucia sprang back up and pulled off her boots and fell back onto the bed, causing it to bounce. After a cold silence, Dante broke it-"Goodnight, Lucia," He muttered sleepily.

"Goodnight, Dante," She added back.

Ten minutes passed and everyone was completely asleep.

Oh, man I am TIRED. In case you are wondering, I live in Littleton, Colorado and I thought Denver was an appropriate place for this story to take place. I'm no Bronco fan, but you can't go anywhere in this state without hearing about them. Traffic blows here. Anyway, I got to go bed myself. I'm just very weary about this chapter here...Please PLEASSSSSSSE tell me what you think, honest to God. No stupid short reviews leave suggestions!

BTW, can ya see the shipping I'm going for? Their both weird oO; they sooooooo like each other!


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